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The Rest of the Second Tale
Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in A Monster Calls, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Death, Denial, and Acceptance
Storytelling
Isolation
Family and Growing Up
Summary
Analysis
The couch is destroyed. The clock is broken into bits. The lamps and the small tables, the bookcase and books, the wallpaper—everything has been torn to pieces. The only thing left standing is the display cabinet. Conor stands in shock and looks at his hands, which are covered in scratches and blood. He turns around: the monster is gone. He doesn’t know how he could have done all of this by himself.
Conor wreaks havoc on his grandmother’s sitting room, which readers may remember is filled to the brim with priceless antiques that no one is allowed to touch. This introduces the idea that Conor is being overtaken by the monster (which represents denial and anger) to the point where he doesn’t even know how he could have done all of that damage single-handedly.
Themes
Conor hears his grandmother pull into the driveway. He doesn’t move. When she walks into the hall, she freezes, taking in the destruction of the room. She lets out a pained groan, which Conor can barely stand to listen to. Then she screams in grief and horror, so loud that Conor puts his hands to his ears. Conor has never been so afraid. Conor’s grandmother walks into the room; Conor backs away, waiting for a blow. But she walks right past him and yanks on the display cabinet, sending it crashing to the floor.
In joining in the destruction, Ness also implies that Conor’s grandmother is harboring anger and grief as well. Even though she has been more realistic about what has been happening to Conor’s mother, she still needs to be given space to grieve and truly acknowledge that her daughter is dying. It also seems that Conor’s grandmother’s act of destruction in this passage is an act of forgiveness; by sending more priceless antiques crashing to the ground, Conor’s grandmother is sending the boy a message that the destruction is not entirely his fault and that she’s with him.
Themes
Conor’s grandmother gives a final groan, not looking at Conor, and then goes to her bedroom. Conor starts to clean the wreckage and works all through the night, but at dawn he gives up on finishing the task. He climbs the stairs, and as he passes his grandmother’s room he can hear her, still awake, weeping.
Conor again illustrates how he is caught between childhood and adulthood. He is childish enough to cause this kind of damage in a tantrum, but also responsible enough to know that he has to clean it up and try to alleviate some of the pain that he has caused his grandmother.
Themes
